“The security of the state and its citizens depends on the ability to hold confidential and in-depth discussions in the Security Cabinet,” the Prime Minister said… “Yesterday, somebody severely undermined the confidence that Israeli citizens give to this forum. He violated the most basic rules regarding the conduct of Security Cabinet discussions. He also hurt the good name of those present at the meeting who did not leak its contents.”

“The Prime Minister was right in his decision,” to cancel the meeting, Landau said. “These leaks, which keep on happening, hurt Israel’s security. It can’t go on like this.”

Landau later said, “Every minister who was present at the discussion, including intelligence and defense establishment officials, must be obligated to take a lie detector test. Until we discover who was behind the leak, the security forum cannot meet again.”

Landau is Minister of Infrastructure and is a senior member of the Yisrael Beytenu party. He is considered to be one of the most hawkish ministers.

Likud Cabinet Minister Michael Eitan opposed Landau’s idea and said that a scaled-down security forum should deal with the Iranian nuclear threat. “We cannot let a security leak cancel out our obligations,” Eitan stated. “The failure of the Security Cabinet to guard secrets proves that a government of 29 ministers cannot succeed in asking everyone for advice without leaks. The best compromise is to establish a smaller forum.”